Proposed Soaps Over The Years

[John]

When NIGHTSHIFT proved popular in 2007, SoapNET almost ordered a OLTL spinoff that centered around the Llanview PD but decided just to renew NS for a second season.

[John]

SoapNET's original plan was to do spinoffs of both OLTL and AMC like they did with Nightshift

[LoyaltoAMC]

I don't think they ever planned an AMC spinoff, the reason being there would be no central place to set the show. GH had the hospital and OLTL had the police station, but there was nothing like that on AMC.

[John]

I believe an idea for an AMC spinoff was Fusion

[Gray Bunny]

Sounds like Aaron Spelling used that idea as inspiration to create Melrose Place later that year...?

Sounds like Aaron Spelling used that idea as inspiration to create Melrose Place later that year...?

[John]

Jackie Collins & Aaron Spelling could not see eye to eye is the word on the street

[BingCherry]

It seems as if the germs of the planned Spelling/Collins series led to Melrose and 2000 Malibu Road (which ended up airing on CBS at the same time Sunset West was going to).

[SFK]

And Joan would have most likely made her primetime soap return then instead of a couple years later on Pacific Palisades.

[John]

I guess there was actually a pilot for Claire Labine's Heart & Soul Shot but never aired

[DRW50]

Here is a Digest article from sometime in summer 1991, on The Women's Group:

A New Daytime Soap Is On The Drawing Board For ABC

A brand-new, half-hour daytime soap opera, tentatively titled THE WOMEN'S GROUP, is being developed by veteran writer/director/producer Linda Yellen and author Erica Jong (Fear of Flying) for ABC.

"We've never done daytime, but we're very excited," says Yellen, who spent time with Jong visiting soap sets. Yellen has high hopes for the show, which she says will focus on "the way women talk when they're alone together. It'll be more nineties, more honest, and will have the look and spin of a nighttime show."

Yellen and Jong plan to submit the "bible" (a description of the show's characters and history) to ABC in early July. "It's thrilling...something that reaches so many people," says Yellen. "We hope to be up and running by fall."

[John]

I wish this would have happened. Sounds like a great concept

[SFK]

It does. And it would have been interesting to see how well they pulled off that "the way women talk when they're alone together" thing which was a charming aspect of AMC back in the day. Trying to ape SATC did much harm to women's dialogue.

[DRW50]

I wonder if this would have replaced Loving.

[John]

Yeah Loving may have died earlier

[DRW50]

Some Digests from October and November 1988 mention plans by CBN to produce another soap opera (4 years after Another Life). The November issue says they had reported on this before but now it seems serious.

Does anyone know how close this came to happening, and what it would have involved?